


Girls In The Alleys

by JaceRMontague



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 17:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4886233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceRMontague/pseuds/JaceRMontague
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cora finds out that her teenage daughter Regina was kissing a girl out in public through the staff that work for her and does her best to ruin the relationship Regina has with the orphaned Emma Swan. </p><p>- one shot</p>
            </blockquote>





	Girls In The Alleys

**Author's Note:**

> This One Shot was inspired by Greg Holden's Boys in the Streets.
> 
> The link to the song;  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcZLMtWEcF0
> 
> Listening to it will probably be beneficial
> 
> \--
> 
> A One Shot In time for tonight's Season 5 premier!!  
> Even though i'm in england so i cant actually watch it for another two days.
> 
> This OS was only meant to be about 500 words but i got invested so now its more than 3500.
> 
> I apologise for errors, i'll comb through in the morning and fix them.  
> I hope you all like it.

 

_**When I was younger, my daddy told me I would never, never amount to anything special. He'd come at me from every angle.** _

 

"How _dare_ you! How dare you blatantly disrespect your family's name! I and your father gave you everything! And you ruin us! You ruin your father’s name! Have you no respect? _Regina!_ Are you even listening to me?" Cora exploded at her daughter. 

 

"Yes mother." The young brunette said softly. She couldn't bare it when her mother shouted at her. Never mind when her father - her favourite person - was used in argument against her. That crushed her. 

 

"You have a blatant disregard for our family! You go around pretending that your worthy of the mills title and then I'm told; by the _staff_ no less - that my daughter is kissing **girls** in the streets!" The elder of the mills' continued to explode at her daughter. 

 

_**He'd say you're the last thing I wanted the last thing I need.** _

__

Regina had covered her self - her tracks - so well for so long. She and her long term girlfriend had been hiding from both Regina’s mother and her girlfriend’s foster parents. 

 

Regina had covered herself - her girlfriend - so well for so long.

  
That was until one of the family staff - the person in question was officially titled as the Mills' landscaper; Graham. The glorified gardener as Cora called him also had the title as one of Cora’s spies. Gathering Intel for Ms. Mills about her daughter. He had never found anything particularly interesting about young Miss Mills until that day. He had been in the town centre in a coffee shop and saw the teenager walk past the window of the shop, he thought nothing of the event until he noticed she was holding hands with someone: a blond haired lad in a beanie, his hair hidden in under the hat, a coat that had been discoloured and torn jeans. 

 

Graham discarded his mug of coffee and his barely touched lunch and left the cafe and trailed after Regina down the high street from a considerable distance behind but he sped up when he saw the duo duck into an alley that led to the high end shops. That particular alley was rarely used as the people who could afford to shop the other side of the alley scarcely visited this side and those this side of the alley could only dream about affording the shops on the west side of the town.

Graham stood at a pub opposite the alley, sat on a bench outside the car and watched the teenagers. He saw young Regina lean towards her companion and kiss them. He continued to watch as she pushed her companion gently into the wall as the kiss deepened.

He only looked away when the grey beanie came away from the blond hair as Regina knotted her hands in the hair hidden beneath it and blonde curls fell gently.

He only looked away because _Regina was kissing a gir_ l. 

 

He looked back as the duo pulled apart and Regina slid the beanie she had stolen during the kiss onto her own head and giggled, causing the girl she was with to laugh with her. 

 

**_How am I gonna answer when my friends tell me my son was kissing boys in the street?_**

**_My son was kissing boys in the street._ **

 

"How did you find out?" Regina whispered 

 

"The gardener saw you and your tramp kissing in the town centre." Cora said curtly. She spat the word tramp. 

 

"Emma is not a tramp!" Regina said sharply. Not quite shouting but close enough to stun Cora into silence for a whole three seconds. 

 

"I do not care for your opinion on Miss Swan." 

 

"How... How do you know her name?" Regina said quietly 

 

"Next time you want to hide your so-called 'relationship' you might want to kiss the tramp somewhere without CCTV, dear. Not that there is going to be a next time, will there?" Cora's voice was dripping with venom, Regina knew to agree or she would be beaten. 

 

"No mother" she whispered. Her voice was barely audible

"What was that dear, do speak up, you know I hate it when you mutter."  

"I said, no mother. They're won't be another time." 

"Good girl.

 And to answer your question, dear, the CCTV in the alley has remarkably good quality resolution. I had it scanned through by security. 

Emma Swan. An orphaned Foster child. Do you have no standards, dear?" 

 

Regina remained silent. 

 

_**He'd try to change me**_

_**Say I was embarrassing my country.** _

_**How could I do this to my family?** _

_**Do I wanna grow up being lonely?** _

 

"Also dear, I expect you to end things with that street urchin."

 

This. This is what caused Regina to snap. 

 

"I CANT. I WON’T. THERE IS NO WAY I CAN DO THAT TO EMMA. I WILL NOT BRE-"

 

"And why ever not?" Cora’s voice was flat. It was calm. Regina knew she would suffer the repercussions for raising her voice. 

 

"Because, mother, I love her."

 

"Oh, darling. Who are you trying to fool? Me or you? You do not love that - that whore. How long have you known her? Two days? Two weeks?" 

 

"Six years. We've been together for four years."

 

"Obscene! There's no way you could have hidden that whore for four years."

 

"I'd have hidden her for longer if you'd not been threatening the staff to spy on me. And again mother - Emma Swan is NOT a whore." 

 

"I do not care for your opinion on miss swan. As I've already stated. I do care for this family. You need to break up with the girl."

 

"What family? You and I? That's no family, mother" Regina spat the final world, glared her mother in the eye and before her mother could reply she left the room and locked herself in her room. 

 

**_He'd say we've worked hard for our money , we've put you in school._**

**_Is this how you repay us?_ **

**_Do you think this is cool?_ **

 

"Your father and I put you into the best schools the country - the world - had to offer! And this is how you repay us."  

 

Cora had left Regina alone for all of five seconds but that was long enough for the teenager to hide get into her room and lock the door. Cora refused to give up and stood outside the bedroom door. 

 

"This is not about repaying you. I repaid you with good grades you could brag about me to business partner for. I repaid you by doing well by you." Regina said sternly from the far side of her room. 

 

"You did not repay me. Now you treat me like I'm stupid. You hid for four years. You hid a girl for four years! That is not repaying me. That is taking me for a fool."

 

**_My son, stop kissing boys in the street_ **

**_My son, stop kissing boys in the street_ **

****

"You will break up with Emma Swan."  Cora said at dinner three hours later. 

 

Regina had joined the table purely for the fact she hadn't eaten since the night prior due to skipping breakfast in favour of running out of the house that morning to pick up Emma and she had skipped lunch in favour for walking around a the town with Emma, watching the girl's eyes sparkle in the sunlight, the way her cheeks were a slight pink from the heat of wearing her hat and Regina's scarf due to the coldness of the November - at that Regina remembered that Emma’s grey beanie was still hidden in the bottom of the brunettes rucksack.  
Regina hadn't said anything since she had locked herself in her room earlier. 

She glared up from her plate and met her mother's cold stare. 

 

"And if I don't?"

 

"Well you're not going to see her again either way so it's your choice, really. Just a matter of whether you're doing to say good bye and break her dirty little heart or if you're going to say nothing and shatter it."

 

"What do you mean I'm not going to see her again either way? _What have you done?"_

 

"Haven't you heard? Her _oh so_ homophobic foster parents found out. She's being sent to a group home in New York City. Tonight."

 

Suddenly Regina wasn't hungry anymore. She left the table without excusing herself and walked out of the front door to retrieve her bag and phone from her car. She intended on bringing them into the house earlier but by the time she had arrived at the house Cora was already at the front door and practically dragged her daughter out of the car and into the house not giving her daughter time to grab her bag or lock the car. 

 

Regina briefly considered getting into her car and driving off but remembered her car keys were on the kitchen floor - or they had been when Regina had flung her arms out in exasperation when Cora first started confronting her daughter about her sexual orientation - "just a silly little phase. You'll get over it." Cora had said milliseconds before the car keys hit a wooden cabinet the other side of the room before hitting the ground with a thud. She also knew her mother would have told the on-site security not to open the gates for Regina, this was confirmed when Regina got inside and her mother hadn't moved an inch from where she was sat at the dining table. 

 

"You didn't excuse yourself, dear."

 

"Oh, Please do excuse me mother" Regina called harshly from halfway up the stairs as she headed back to her room "for putting up with your shit for so long" she muttered under her breath as she locked her door once more.She tipped the contents of her bag on the bed and pulled two items from the miniature mountain that was formed on her bed. The first was the beanie that she placed on her head almost instinctively and the second was her mobile phone. She unlocked the phone and on the screen she saw she had 13 text messages, 20 missed calls and three voice mails. 

 

Regina listened to the voice mails first they outlined what Regina already knew but the way Emma spoke worried Regina. 

 

" _Hi_." Emma began. Her voice was a whisper and Regina knew straight away that her girlfriend was hiding somewhere in the house. Or on it. The brunette knew that Emma had a habit of sneaking onto the roof to escape. The word was whispered and worried but it the fact she had said it calmed Regina enough to listen to the message.

 

"Regina. They know. They know about us. They're sending me back. They know. They must have found something. A photo. A phone bill. A receipt. Something. I must have left something out. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Regina. Oh god. They know. They know and they're sending me back. They know. They kn-” the message cut out and Regina didn't know why. She was upset that Emma thought it was her fault when in reality it was Regina’s. She had let herself become sloppy when it came to protecting Emma, she had let her guard down because she had hid for so long, she'd allowed herself to become confident and in doing that she'd allowed herself and Emma to become visible to those they were meant to be invisible to.

 

The next message had been left twenty minutes later. 

 

" _Hi_." Emma whispered once more. "They're shipping me out tonight. They're sending me to New York. I don't know what to do. The Harringway's had rung up my case worker before I even got home. I'm being relocated to the apple. I'm leaving in an hour. I hope to talk you soon."

 

The final message began playing 

 

" _Hi_." This time Emma was talking at normal volume "I've got about ten minutes till I go. I figured you've left your phone in your glovebox again. I'm sorry they found out. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for that"

 

Emma, my dear, you have nothing to apologise for. Regina thought to herself. 

 

Emma took a breath before she began speaking again "I just-" the blonde was cut off by an angry knocking at the door followed by a list of homophobic slurs from a drunk sounding Mr Harringway. 

 

"Shit. Shitshitshit." Emma said quickly and quietly

 

"I love you. So much. Eight months till I Age out the system. And I'll be back. Okay? I love you. Regina, I love you." 

 

"I love you too, Emma" Regina whispered into her Empty room

 

'You have no new voice mails' an automatic voice filled the space where Emma's promise had been

Moments before. She took the phone from her ear and began reading the text messages. 

 

One was "Thank you for today, I love you." The next seven were a mixture of "answer your phone", "answer your phone please" and "Regina. Answer your phone". Four messages we're "they know.", "Regina they know". And the final one was "Regina. I love you."

 

Regina didn't notice she was crying until a droplet hit her phone screen. 

 

**_Now that I'm older._ **

**_My daddy hearts a little warmer_ **

**_But he still won't hug me like my brother_ **

**_And he still won't kiss me like my mother._ **

 

Regina turned nineteen four months after Emma's hasty departure from Maine.  
Her mother had begun letting her out the house on her own about three weeks after Emma had left. She claimed to trust Regina enough not to snog the first girl she saw. Regina knew her mother still had every CCTV camera trained on her and even if she hadn't Regina didn't want to kiss any other girl. She only wanted Emma. 

 

Regina’s mother eventually calmed down and began to get over the revelation that her daughter had been kissing girls, though not entirely and had introduced Regina to an influx of guys over the last few months to try to prove that Regina’s four year relationship had been "a phase"

 

Regina feigned interest in a few at the start and thankfully Cora left her alone after that. 

 

Emma's eighteenth birthday had come and gone. As had the duos five year anniversary. The two teenagers stayed in contact. They rang each other in the dead of night. "I love you” ‘s and "I miss you”’s shared between the two girls and the stars. 

 

"I'll be back soon" and "I'll visit the city with you. I’ve always wants to see it." Filled one another's ears during school hours when the two slid out of classes to talk to each other. 

 

Regina’s grades had dropped substantially though that was to be expected considering the girl hadn't turned up to classes for three months. Though she still had enough to pass every subject, her mother thought it was a Rebellion but the truth was Regina had never been interested in academics. She had a knack for art, for dance and for some reason she had an incredible hand for vehicular engineering. Her grades had dropped in everything apart from theatre and creative arts and science. Emma was good at everything else and was there for Regina to rant at about the subjects and encouraged her to keep her grades up. 

 

Now Emma was gonna Regina didn't care. 

 

**_He said "you're a Part of this family, I made you myself._ **

**_But the way that you act isn't good for your health_ **

**_My son, stop kissing boys in the street_ **

**_My son, stop kissing boys in the street."_ **

 

Every now and again Cora would remind Regina that she was a mills. That she was straight. That Emma was a phase. 

 

One night as Regina whispered into the phone line a soft "I love you. I'll see you next week, be safe." Into her phone she didn't realise that her mother was standing outside her bedroom door. 

 

The elder brunette silently let herself into Regina’s room. The door had been left unlocked in recent weeks.  

 

Regina hung up and when she turned around her from her spot at her desk where she had chosen to sit that night to watch the sun set in the early summer. 

 

"You won't be seeing her next week, dear. Not if you want to remain part of this family." Cora said with that controlled calmness to get voice. 

 

"Then I won't be part of this family." Regina replied just as controlled. Just as scarily calm. 

 

The certainty in her daughter’s voice scared Cora. She couldn't afford to lose her daughter for if that were to happen shed lose her reputation. 

 

"Nonsense. You shall remain a mills. You will not leave until you are wed - to a man." 

 

Regina scoffed at her mother’s ideals. 

 

"Mother. Do me a favour and piss off."

 

The sharp intake of breath from Cora was almost as sharp as the sting on the left side of Regina’s face from where her mother’s hand met her face. Almost. Regina didn't even flitch. She was silently daring her mother to hit her again 

 

"Do not take that tone with me." Cora hissed

 

"Then do not control my relationship with Emma." Regina replied 

 

"You can't call that a relationship. You've not seen each other in nearly a year."

 

"Well that's your fault." 

 

Cora didn't have a response and so she left her daughters room. 

 

As she sat in her office drinking whiskey until the sun rose she was unaware her daughter had wept, cleaned blood from her face from where her mother’s rings had collided with her cheek bone and created a gash. 

 

She wasn't aware that the reason her daughter wasn't answering from behind her locked bedroom door was because her daughter wasn't behind the locked door but was instead driving towards New York City to surprise her girlfriend. 

 

**_My daddy's dying_ **

**_And he's finally realised I'm not lying._ **

****

Cora noticed her daughter was gone when she realised her daughter could not be heard singing in Spanish upstairs like she normally would. She couldn't hear squeaking floorboards from where Regina would wonder her room aimlessly. She walked upstairs and couldn't hear her daughter breathing through the door. Her fears were confirmed when she looked out of the window and saw that her daughters silver Mercedes Benz was not sitting at the drive way beside Cora’s own Bentley. 

 

Cora walked down stairs, stumbling down the last few due to the two bottles of 35 year whiskey she had drank through out the night. 

 

She grabbed her keys and sat in the Bentley. It took her many attempts to successfully get the key into the ignition. She left the drive at speed and raced down streets and highways. 

 

She would not loose her daughter. 

 

Regina had pulled into a gas station in the early hours to fuel up and to sleep for a few hours in the back of her car before she continued to New York to meet Emma. 

 

Her mobile woke her up. It was eleven thirty am. She read the number on the screen. It was a New York State number so Regina answered expecting the "hi." Emma always started their conversations with. The "hi" that meant everything to Regina. 

 

A male voice filled Regina's ears instead of Emma's "is this miss Regina mills?"

 

"Speaking. Can I help?"

 

"This is Doctor Victor from New York State Hospital."

 

Bile rose in her throat as she thought about Emma being hurt. 

 

"I'm calling to inform you that Ms Cora Mills has been involved in a serious road accident. You may want to get here as quickly as possible. We can't do much for her."

 

Regina felt crushed. She couldn't lose her mother. 

 

As narcissistic, pessimistic, controlling, vile and evil Cora could be she was still Regina’s mother. 

 

Regina sped to the hospital. 

Tears has made driving damn near impossible but Regina had made it in less than two hours.

 

She was led to a private room where a barely conscious Cora lay silently. 

 

"How... Nice of you to..." Cora began slowly but Regina cut her off. 

 

"Now’s really not the time to be snarky mother."

 

"Because I'm... Dying?" The woman forced out

 

"Because you're injured."

 

"You... Emma."

 

"Mother _please_ don't now is not-"

 

Cora interrupted her daughter

 

" _Love_."

 

"Pardon?" Regina questioned 

 

"You... And.... Emma... It's love" Cora was breathing slower

 

"Yes mother, it is." Regina said, smiling softly. 

 

**_We sit in silence but we're smiling because for once we are not fighting._ **

 

Mother and daughter remained in silence for a few minutes. Regina heard a nurse argue with someone outside the door.

In fact, Regina heard a nurse argue with Emma outside the door. 

 

"Is... That?"

 

Regina nodded. She had texted Emma when she was in the hospital elevator. Letting her know what had in three short lines. 

 

'In NYS Hosp. Cora dying. Floor 9."

 

_**He'd say, "there was no way of knowing 'cause all I was taught was men only love women's but now I'm not sure.** _

_**My son keep kissing boys in the street** _

_**My son keep kissing boys in the street."** _

 

Cora reached for Regina’s hand and the young mills obliged. 

 

"I... Thought you... Were... Lying... Experimenting for... Atten-" 

 

Cora began coughing weakly as the heart monitor slowed down. 

 

Regina tried to tell her mother that there was nothing to explain about but Cora wanted to. 

 

"Attention... I was... Wrong... I was told... Growing up that... Women could... Only love... Men... I was con...fused."

 

Cora fell silent for a moment and Regina thought her mother was dead 

 

"I'm... Sorry... Keep kissing... Emma... In alleys.... Keep.... Loving her... I'm so... Sorry."

 

"I love you, mother" Regina whispered 

 

"I... Love you... Too... Regina."

 

This time when Cora went silent she didnt speak again. She stayed silent, the only sounds to be heard were Emma pleading with nurses to let her stay on the floor if they were not going to let her into the room and the ever slowing of Cora's breathing. She began breathing so slowly that when she exhaled after nearly twenty seconds it made Regina jump a little. Eventually the heart machine she was attached to blared out. 

 

Nurses rushed in. Cora was pronounced dead. 

 

Regina sat silently before she was ushered out. She collapsed into a heap on the ground with sobs racking her chest. 

 

A pair of arms wrapped around Regina. Holding her tight. Rocking her. 

 

"Hi." 

 

**_When I'm gone, keep kissing boys in the street._ **


End file.
